Galesburg Santa Fe Station was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in the west central Illinois town of Galesburg. The station was along the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

's main line and served trains such as the ''

Super Chief The ''Super Chief'' was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The streamliner claimed to be "The Train of the Stars" because of the various celebrities it carried between Chicago, Ill ...

'' and '' El Captain''. After

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

took over intercity rail in the United States, it was served by trains such as the '' Lone Star'' (1971–1979) and the ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagsta ...

'' (1971–1996). Although train service ended in 1996 and it has been demolished since, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision.

History

Background

The first railroad to arrive in Galesburg was the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in December 1854. The railroad served passengers at a large

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

at South and Seminary streets. Galesburg was also a major junction for the CB&Q, since it was the point where many branch lines crossed the Chicago—Denver main line. Also in Galesburg was the railroad's roundhouse and

hump yard A classification yard ( American and Canadian English ( Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English ( Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railwa ...

, the latter still used with

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe

The

Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

was originally planned to bypass Galesburg 10 to 12 miles to the southeast.Robison 2000, p. 72 The railway was trying to build on the straightest line possible between Kansas City and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

—Galesburg was not on this line. Led by Clark E. Carr, the townspeople tried to persuade the railway to build through Galesburg. A guaranty—signed by many citizens of Galesburg—was telegraphed to the Santa Fe's headquarters in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. It offered 20 acres of land for a depot, as well as the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

through town. To save money, the railroad used the right of way closely following the Cedar Fork Valley.

Station houses

First built in 1888, the station was made out of red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. The two-story building had a slate roof and an octagonal tower facing the tracks. A unique feature of the station was that it had two different waiting rooms, one for men and one for women. In 1964, the building was demolished and replaced in by a smaller, one-story building. The razing and construction of the new depot received mixed reactions by the residents of the town—many of them thought that the depot could be restored. The railway asked the city of Galesburg to remove the grade crossing with Cedar Street, directly west of the depot. In return, the Santa Fe would build the new station, and use the space where the old depot stood for parking. It was not the only

station in Galesburg – the other station, located on South Seminary Street, served the ''

Illinois Zephyr The ''Illinois Zephyr'' and ''Carl Sandburg'' are a pair of passenger trains operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Quincy, Illinois. As ''Illinois Service'' trains, they are partially funded by the Illinois Department of Transpor ...

'' and the ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

''.

Closure

In 1995, the Santa Fe and

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

railways merged to form the

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

. To allow trains to switch freely between lines, a connector outside

Cameron, Illinois Cameron is an unincorporated community in Warren County, Illinois, United States. Cameron is east-southeast of Monmouth. Cameron has a post office with ZIP code 61423. Cameron is at the junction of the old Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and Sa ...

(southwest of Galesburg) was built. This connector (known as the Cameron Connector) allows the ''Southwest Chief'' to switch to the ex-CB&Q, ex-BN track, where other Amtrak trains already operated. This combined with the amendment of track vital getting to

Chicago Union Station Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...

, causing Amtrak to move all operations in Galesburg to the present station. This move also made stations in Chillicothe and

Streator, Illinois Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 censu ...

lose service.

Gallery

File:Old Santa Fe Galesburg1.JPG, The site of the former station. The creek that follows the railway through town is visible to the right. File:SanteFeDepot1.jpeg, Postcard of the original station File:SanteFeDepot2.jpeg, Postcard of the original station

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{Amtrak Illinois stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1888 Railway stations closed in 1996 Galesburg, Illinois Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway stations Former Amtrak stations in Illinois 1888 establishments in Illinois 1996 disestablishments in Illinois Transportation buildings and structures in Knox County, Illinois